14 



black bee. Italians are more prolific in the spring, easier to manipu- 

 late, guard their hives to better advantage against beemoth and rob- 

 bers, work earlier and later in the day, as well as in the season, are 

 more industrious and preserving, and have longer tongues and gather 

 nectar from flowers where blacks are unable to reach the nectaries. 



WAX AND ITS PRODUCTION. 



Wax, the material used in comb building, is a secretion produced in 

 pocket-like organs or wax plates situated on the ventral or under side 

 of the last four visible segments of the abdomen of the worker bee. 

 Each segment bears two of the wax plates, making eight in all. Two 

 conditions are necessary to produce this phenomena; bees seeking new 

 quarters In swarming, and additional storage room during honey har- 

 vest. In order to produce wax the bees gorge themselves with honey 

 and suspend themselves in festoons, hanging from the top of the hive 

 or frame. After hanging motionless for about 24 hours, the honey 

 has been digested and is secreted Into a fatty secretion which in com- 

 ing In contact with air hardens and forms scales of wax. The wax 

 scales are removed from the pockets by the little spines on the pollen 

 comb and passed to the front air of legs. It is then passed to the front 

 pair of legs. It is then passed to the mandibles or jaws and mas- 

 ticated after which it Is worked Into comb. 



COMB AND ITS CONSTRUCTION. 



The comb Is composed of a series of horizontal or six-sided cells, 

 built on both sides of a mid-rib or base, whose adjustment is such that 

 the base of each cell composes three lozenges, each being one-third of 

 the base of three opposite cells. It has been stated that comb is built 

 with such accuracy that the maximum capacity and strength are ob- 

 tained with the minimum expenditure of wax. The cells are not all 

 the same size. Those in which worker bees are reared measure about 

 five to the Inch, or approximately 27 to the square Inch and the ones 

 in which drones are reared measure about four to the inch' or nearly 

 eighteen to the square Inch. The total for both sides Is double that 

 number. Where worker and drone cells join, the bees overcome the 

 lack of conformity by constructing cells of irregular shape known as 

 Intermediate or transition cells. 



Besides the horizontal hexagonal cells already enumerated, there 

 are found on the combs at certain times cells of a different type. They 

 are circular rather than hexagonal, hang vertically, are larger than 

 any of the other cells, and the outer surface is rough or corrugated, 

 resembling a peanut to a large extent. These are called queen cells 

 which are only used for rearing queens. 



The worker and drone cells are not only used for brood rearing, but 

 for storing honey and pollen. 



HONEY. 



Honey is collected and not made by the bees. During the transfer 

 from the flowers to the hive, "nectar" as it is called before gathered, 



